By Grace Browne
I was struck by an article in The Independent, claiming that abortion is not linked with suicide.
It is bizarre that The Independent, which in 2017 supported the claim that school tests cripple mental health, will now so eagerly endorse the idea that there is no reason why killing one’s child should lead to severe mental health consequences.
The mainstream media incessantly scrambles to elevate pro-abortion ideology. They go to great lengths to promote the idea that killing unborn humans has no negative consequence. In doing so, media platforms have become fixated with one unreliable study claiming there is no link between abortion and suicide.
The Lancet, a weekly medical journal, recently published a study in which researchers claimed: "Women who had abortions had a higher risk of non-fatal suicide attempts compared with women who did not have an abortion. However, because the increased risk was the same both the year before and after the abortion, it is not attributable to the abortion."
If credible, this discovery would be a lucky find for pro-abortion activists and it could even influence public policy. This is why the public deserve to be aware of this study’s easily refutable claims.
Shortcomings
A glaring shortcoming is that this study analyses suicide attempts and overlooks ‘completed’ suicides. Additionally, many of the suicide attempts included in the study were actually cases of self-harm without intention to die.
Dr Priscilla Coleman, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, says:
"Researchers only examined a small segment of the population of women undergoing abortions. They did not consider multiple groups of women who have had experience of suicide. Not considered in this study were the following groups: 1) women who had more than one suicide attempt, 2) women who completed suicide, 3) women who had a first suicide attempt before the rather arbitrary beginning point of data analysis (one year before the abortion), and 4) women who had more than one abortion …
"The researchers failed to consider numerous variables which had shown previously to be associated with abortion and mental health problems, including suicide. Among the variables overlooked are marital status, history of other perinatal losses, childhood history of abuse, intimate partner violence, substance abuse, and pregnancy intention, among others."
"The risk is real, the link is there"
Louise Grant, said: "In our calls with clients we always have to listen out for signs of suicide risk, especially with callers who recently had an abortion. This risk is real, the link is there. Women are not helped by people trying to minimise it."
Evidence-based review, Abortion and Women’s Health, based on global research and carried out by Dr Gregory Pike, a medical researcher and the Founding Director of the Adelaide Centre for Bioethics and Culture, lists a catalogue of physical and mental health problems linked to abortion.
Findings include:
- Suicide risk is around six times greater after abortion than after childbirth.
- Women described significant grief three years after abortion.
- A 30% increased risk of depression and a 25% increased risk of anxiety following abortion.
- Women who had abortions experienced mental health disorders 30% more often compared to women who had not had an abortion.
The ongoing effort to deny the consequences of abortion on women, point to a desire of the abortion industry to further an ideology rather than a genuine concern for women.